JOEL Connolly won a battle of the generations in the final of the Drumaness Masters to claim his first-ever NIBSA ranking tournament.
The 17-year-old from Belfast beat eight-times Northern Ireland champion Patrick Wallace 5-2, with the 55-year-old from Dungannon the only player to win more than a frame off him over the course of the tournament.
Wallace was also the fourth Northern Ireland champion, past or present, to find Connolly – who fired in breaks of 61, 78, 57 and 84 – too hot to handle in the third ranking event of the season in the Co Down village.
Wins over Joe Meara (3-0) and Declan Lavery (3-1) had helped him book a semi-final spot against current Northern Ireland title-holder Darren Dornan, who plays out of the host club.
It was expected to be a tight battle, but Connolly maintained the level of form which had seen him beat Meara and Lavery, and also current NIBSA number three Raymond Fry (3-0), scorching to a 5-1 win with the aid of breaks of 68 and 70.
Dornan does have the consolation of usurping Wallace at the top of the rankings, reaching that milestone for the first time in his career.
Wallace had beaten number four ranked Fergal Quinn from Coalisland 5-2 in an all-Tyrone semi-final.
Quinn, winner of the second NIBSA event at Blackstaff in Belfast last month, had stayed with his opponent in the early stages, going to the mid-session interval at 2-2, but Wallace stepped on the gas from there, winning frame five with a 103 before stealing the next with a 49 clearance and controlling the next to get home 5-2.
Connolly not only went home with the Jimmy McGivern Memorial Trophy, but also pocketed £800 and some valuable bonus ranking points, with this event the first in the Triple Crown Series. He will be in line for a bonus if he can add the European Qualifiers, which take place in January, and the season-ending Northern Ireland Championship.
Quinn, meanwhile, had the consolation of winning the £100 high-break prize for a 141 total clearance in the early stages of the event.
